Posts Tagged ‘Garlic’
Sunday, February 5th, 2012
We are pretty much slap bang in the middle of Vacherin season, which runs from late September to early April. This creamy, smooth, slightly nutty and super runny cows milk cheese is an Alpine speciality traditionally sold in round wooden boxes, cinched with a piece of spruce bark.
Vacherin is great eaten at room temperature with some bread, but a killer way of serving it is baked. Particularly when it’s been snowing. It’s like a fondue without the hassle and the Abigail’s Party baggage, and is great lunch for two.
Pre-heat your over to 180 – 200c, then remove all the plastic wrapping from the cheese, but leave it in it’s box. Slice a fat clove of garlic, and then using a sharp knife, pierce the Vacherin’s rind and slide in the slices. Pour over around 50ml of white wine, and then put the cheese into the oven to bake until it’s golden brown and bubbling (15minutes or so).
Serve it with whatever you like, but I like a good mix of raw veg like raddishes and carrots, some hunks of good sourdough, a few boiled potatoes (pink fir are particularly good), a pear and a bit of salad.
Then just dunk in your vehicle of choice, and get cheesy.
Tags: Abigail's Party, Alpine, Baked, Carrots, Chese, Cows, Fondue, Garlic, Milk, Mont D'Or, Pear, pink Fir, Potatoes, Raddishes, Salad, Season, Sourdough, Vacherin, White Wine
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Tuesday, January 31st, 2012
Its as cold as a witches tit here in London at the moment. The kind of cold that gets into your bones, and wont shift until it’s made to. Which is where this chorizo and chickpea stew comes in. A bit of a riff on the Spicy Spanish Stew I do, this is hotter, spicier, smokier and has all the ingredients to give you that Ready Brek glow, but without having to shovel some unpleasant gruel down your neck.
I use Brindisa’s picante chorizo, as I like it the best, but you can use whichever cooking chorizo floats your boat. Don’t use the salami like cured stuff, as it doesn’t really work for this recipe. Lets crack on.
Ingredients (serves 3-4)
6 cooking chorizo
1 onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 medium hot red chilli, de-seeded and finely chopped
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp maras biberi
1 tin of chopped tomatoes (400g)
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Tags: Brindisa, Chickpea, Chilli, Chorizo, Cold, Garlic, Hot, Maras Biberi, Onion, Piquant, Ready Brek, Smoked Paprika, Smokey, Spicy, Stew, thyme, Tit, Tomato, Weather
Posted in Dinner, Recipes | 3 Comments »
Friday, January 6th, 2012
This post should have gone out around Thanksgiving / Christmas time, but it didn’t. And now it’s too late. Story of my life.
BUT turkey is a much underused meat in this country, it’s low in fat, and if cooked right is pretty tasty too. So hopefully, this recipe will enable some of you to get your burger fix whilst being a bit healthier in January. Oh yeah, and sweet potatoes are officially a superfood now too. Think I turned that one around…
The long-ish ingredient list suggests that this is quite an involved recipe, but it really isn’t. Once you’ve got everything together, it’s pretty easy. The red pepper relish works really well with the burgers, as does a bit of creamed horseradish instead of ketchup or mayo. I like the robust sponginess of ciabatta with these, but feel free to use whatever bread tickles your fancy.
Ingredients (serves 2)
For the patties
400 g turkey mince
2 spring onions, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 tsp fresh thyme, finely chopped
1 tbs parsley, finely chopped
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Tags: Burger, Ciabatta, Creamed Horseradish, Garlic, gruyere, Healthy, Onion, Red Pepper, relish, Spring Onion, Superfood, Sweet Potato, Tabasco, Thanksgiving, Turkey
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Saturday, September 17th, 2011
Gyoza, dumplings, wontons, pot stickers, whatever you call them, I love them. They’ve fast become one of my favourite snacks. One of those things that when you think about them, you’ve got to have them.
I’d never really thought of making my own, but a chance encounter with a dumpling press and a packet of wonton wrappers in San Fran’s China town changed all that, and now I can’t stop cranking them out. Of course if I was a real expert, I’d be wrapping them by hand, but I’m not, and the $6 press does a pretty good job.
This Thai influenced recipe has a pork filling, but you can stuff these little guys with whatever you want really. You could do a variation with salmon or shrimp and chive, or maybe even tofu and shitake mushrooms. The cases we’ve found work best are Singapore style dumpling wrappers as they’re a bit thicker and give the pot stickers more substance.
One more thing, the pot stickers get fried on one side (which is how they get their name) and then steamed, so you’re going to need a wok or frying pan with a lid. Lets begin.
Ingredients (makes about 20)
For the pot stickers
250g pork mince
1.5 tablespoons fresh coriander, finely chopped
1.5 tablespoons fresh mint, finely chopped
3 spring onions (scallions), finely chopped
1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger (more…)
Tags: Chili, Coriander, Dumplings, Garlic, Ginger, Gyoza, Mint, Pork, Pot Stickers, Scallion, Singapore, Siracha Sauce, Soy, Spring Onion, Thai, Wontons
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Thursday, August 4th, 2011
Going back in time a bit, on the last day of the bread section of my course we had a flat bread day. We made pitta, pizza, lavash and naan breads. Knowing we were going to make them, I thought I’d give my course mates a little taste of ‘home’ by making some spiced fillings for a few of the naan. Well everyone knows how much us Brits love a curry.
The breads are made with a whole wheat biga, which is a (typically) Italian stiff pre-ferment, although I imagine the Indians would use hunks of ‘old dough’ to add flavour and a bit of leavening. As the biga is made of whole wheat and has a wee bit of yeast in it, you don’t need to make it the night before, just a few hours before you make your final dough, which has a 3 hour bulk ferment, so you’ll need to get a bit organised.
I made the meat (keema) filling for the carnivores and a vegetarian version for the herbivores and we baked the breads in the schools wood fired oven, which I’m guessing most of you out there don’t have. Don’t worry, you can cook them in your oven at home. Just make sure it’s as hot as Hades, and that you bake the naans on something solid and heat retaining like a pizza stone or heavy roasting tin.
Ready?
Ingredients (makes 4)
For The Bread
380g White Bread Flour
30g Whole Wheat Flour
170g Water (temp of around 26c)
16g Ghee or melted butter
12g Salt
1g Instant Yeast
160g Goat or regular low fat Yoghurt
225g Whole Wheat Biga (see below)
More Ghee / Butter for brushing the bread with
For The Keema
400g Minced Beef
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Tags: Biga, Bread, Butter, Coriander, Cumin, Garlic, Ghee, Keema, Naan, Onions, Oven, Tandoor, Turmeric, Whole Wheat Flour, Wood Oven
Posted in Recipes, Snack, Travel | No Comments »
Sunday, July 17th, 2011
‘Barbecue’ is a bit of a national obsession in the US. From what I can gather there’s a bit of rivalry between the North and South in terms of style. I forget which, but one part of the country favours the dry, and the other the more saucy, but whatever side you meat falls on, it can be some tasty shizzle.
This recipe is a culmination of a bunch of different barbecue recipes we’ve read and tasted since we’ve been out here. A lot of the more recent ones seem to favour balsamic vinegar and going heavy on the sugar as part of the sauce, which to my taste is a bit sweet, and you end up with almost Chinese style ‘candied’ ribs. I prefer a bit more of a balance between sweet and savoury, so have used apple cider vinegar. But be careful not to go too far the other way or you’ll end up with something that will strip the enamel off your teeth.
The ribs get a double dose of flavour from a dry rub (which you should allow to do it’s work for a good few hours; or ideally overnight) and a wet barbecue ‘mopping sauce’ that you douse the meat with whilst it cooks on the barbecue.
Right, lets get our grill on.
Ingredients (serves 2-3)
1.2 – 1.5 kg rack of baby back (loin) ribs
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Tags: Allspice, Baby Back Ribs, Barbecue, Bourbon, Brown Sugar, Cider Vinegar, Coleslaw, Corn, Cumin, Deliverance, Dry Rub, Garlic, Ketchup, Onion, Paprika, Pork, Sauce, Soy Sauce
Posted in Dinner, Lunch, Recipes, Travel | 2 Comments »
Thursday, July 7th, 2011
As you’ll see form the previous post, American Independence day fell over this weekend. So for the 4th of July, we rented a cabin up in Lake Tahoe, which gave us the opportunity to do something we’d been gagging to do since we got here. Get our grill on.
We cooked a bunch of stuff on the barbecue which came with our weekend digs including ribs (recipe soon), steak, corn, s’mores and this great little clam recipe that the missus spotted on the New York Times website a few weeks ago.
It’s a really simple and easy, a bit different, and makes a perfect starter. We approximated the quantities as we didn’t have any on-line access whilst there, but I think we winged it pretty successfully.
Ingredients (serves 2)
20 clams (about 10 per person)
100g buter
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Small handful chopped flat leaf parsley
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Tags: 4th July, Barbecue, Butter, Cabin, Clams, Garlic, Independence Day, lake Tahoe, Lemon, Parsley, Shelfish, Worcestershire Sauce
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Wednesday, June 22nd, 2011
The other day the missus suggested that I should tackle some indigenous recipes on Hand To Mouth. The kind of food that, for better or worse, the good ol’ US of A is known for. So this is the first of these American Classics, Southern Fried Chicken.
I’m no food snob. I love a bit of fried chicken. A KFC or Junior Spesh after a night out is one of life’s pleasures. But there’s nothing wrong with elevating it a couple of notches either. I use thighs for this recipe, as to my taste they’ve got the right skin to flesh ratio, and of course that tasty dark meat. I also use a good dose of not very traditional herbs and spices in the coating.
Buttermilk isn’t that easy to get in the UK, so if you can’t get it, some live yhogurt will do just as well. Lets get cookin’.
Ingredients (serves 2)
6 chicken thighs
For the ‘marinade’
1 pint (600ml) buttermilk
1 clove of garlic
1/2 an medium onion
Sprig of rosemary
Sprig of time
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Tags: American, Buttermilk, Classic, Crispy, Egg, French Beans, Fried Chicken, Garlic, Lemon, Mashed Potato, Melinda's Hot Sauce, Onion, Recipe, Rosemary, SFC, Smoked Paprika, Southern, Thighs, thyme
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